Cate Edwards on her dad John Edwards' affair: 'I was devastated'

Cate Edwards is sitting down for her first interview since her father
John Edwards' trial for allegedly violating campaign laws. Edwards
talks to Savannah Guthrie of "Today" about her dad's affair with campaign staffer
Rielle Hunter.

"He told me," says Cate. "I guess he and my mom decided that that was, you know, how it needed to be done. So yeah, I was devastated. And I was disappointed. I mean, these are my parents. I had grown up with a lot of love in my family. And it was hard to see them go through this."

Cate also says that "of course" she was mad about the affair and that she found Hunter's tell-all book about the affair to be "a poor choice."

Turning towards her mother
Elizabeth, who
passed away from cancer in late 2010, Cate says she misses her all the time.

"I miss her in sort of big ways and small ways. You know, it's big things that go by, like my wedding. She wasn't able to be there. But we got to talk about it. And I felt incredibly lucky that I got the chance to even have that conversation with her."

"I sort of carried out some of her vision, which was great to sort of feel her presence there, even though she wasn't actually there," says Cate. "And then there are small things. I mean, I get away with bad grammar. I never used to get away with bad grammar."

The full interview will air Friday on "Today" and on "Rock Center with Brian Williams."